[Cagdu] guide dog training

[Ken Volonte]

Dear Ms. Welton:

    I have had several guide dogs and I know what to expect from them and 
from the training we as blind people go through.  I am writing you because 
of some disturbing trends which I've seen during my last class.

    mine was the first class to introduce reward training to reinforce 
physical praise.  There were several dogs in class that should have washed 
out as guides; indeed, they would have washed out in previous years.  It now 
seems that Guide 'Dogs for the Blind and several but not all schools are 
using food reward training.

    Let me be very clear on this next point.  I have no objection to the use 
of food rewards when the dogs are first being trained.  What I object to is 
the notion that suddenly, through food rewards and clicker training, any dog 
regardless of its core personality can and will be trained as a guide dog.

    When food rewards are introduced in our training, two things happen. 
Incorrect timing can set back a dog so that by the end of class, the dog no 
longer responds as a guide and has to be retrained with another blind user. 
The second, more insidious thing that happens is that the dog is no longer 
guiding us.  The focus of attention has been shifted from safely crossing a 
busy street to getting a nugget of kibble.

    Now what you have is not a guide dog, but a trick dog who doesn't 
generalize, problem solve, or care about the work they do for us.  With food 
pouch on hip, the public doesn't see a blind person and guide dog moving 
effortlessly through the town.  They have the incorrect perception that we 
are training a dog for someone else.

    There's another thing that happens with food rewards and clickers.  The 
training department comes to think that all problems have technical 
solutions, and those gadgets like clickers, remote controls to trigger bells 
mounted on poles and the like, come to substitute for our loving and working 
with our dogs who risk their lives for us every day.

    Thank you for letting me share some of my thoughts.  I enjoy reading 
your descriptions of dog breeds.  You're an honest person.

                                Ken Volonte,
                                Secretary,
                                California Association of Guide Dog Users